Have your pray!

Mama Henrica Wilson Morona outside her church, St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Avarua. From there, she will call the world to prayer. 19060718

It’s a bidding war a bit like hosting the Olympics. And from 20 contenders, Cook Islands have been selected to host the World Day of Prayer. On one day in 2025, the whole Christian world will stop to pray for the Cooks – so what should they pray for?

Have your pray! Discuss this within your family; discuss this in Church and Sunday School. What message does our nation wish to send to the world: What divine guidance do our leaders need? What struggles are our women and children facing? And beyond saving souls, does our environment also need saving?

You can have your say here - and we’ll collate the responses and pass them on to the Cook Islands council of the World Day of Prayer for inclusion in the global prayer.* Email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
* Facebook: Cook Islands News or reply to this post* Twitter: www.twitter.com/CINewsOnline#DayOfPrayer

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It was 2am when mama Henrica’s granddaughter woke her up for a video call with the World Day of Prayer international committee. “Nanna it’s quarter to two!”

Still in her nightie she quickly ran to her computer. She was surprised to see some many people on the video call, from time zones all around the globe.

She laughed when they said she looked sleepy: “Of course I am, it’s two in the morning!”

The video call was a request for Henrica Wilson Morona and other church leaders to lead prayers in their communities for the people of Sri Lanka, after the tragic shootings by Islamic militants on Easter Sunday.

The Sri Lankan woman on the call, Veno Schubert, spoke tearfully about their recent struggles and Mama Henrica consoled them with some kind words.

The World Day of Prayer started as women supporting women, many countries coming together to support each other with prayer. Now, it is men, women and children. And it’s real:

“He made us wonderful” (Psalm 139) is the theme for the Cook Islands, and it seems appropriate. The Cooks have been selected from 20 applicants to write a prayer for the world in 2025. That prayer will be about the needs of the Cook Islands.

Every year one country is chosen to write a prayer document that includes its country’s history, a children’s prayer, songs and a worship service that the world will follow that year.

The World Day of Prayer, which was formed by Christian women, is celebrated every year on Friday March 6 by over 170 countries.

These countries will then write a report on what they did on the World Day of Prayer – and how God answered their prayers.

This year the European nation of Slovenia wrote the world prayer, which was shared and celebrated at the Rarotonga Latter Day Saints church a few months ago.

Next year, Zimbabwe has been chosen to be the writer country. The prayer is then translated into over 80 different languages.

Wilson Marona, the sole Pacific Islands representative on the World Day of Prayer international executive, attended the international committee meeting held in Brazil in 2017 where it was decided the Cook Islands would share their history and culture of Christian worship with the world.

Wilson Marona said the Cook Islands was chosen for the yearly reports sent to the headquarters in New York, and how she had portrayed this country with its strong Christian beliefs.

Have your pray! Discuss this within your family; discuss this in Church and Sunday School. What message does our nation wish to send to the world: What divine guidance do our leaders need? What struggles are our women and children facing? And beyond saving souls, does our environment also need saving?

You can have your say here - and we’ll collate the responses and pass them on to the Cook Islands council of the World Day of Prayer for inclusion in the global prayer.* Email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
* Facebook: Cook Islands News or reply to this post* Twitter: www.twitter.com/CINewsOnline#DayOfPrayer